Soft Floor Test

[Para]

Is there anything more to it than walk around and feel for gushy-ness underfoot?

Im betting more often than not water collects more toward the stern and a floor is more likely to be soft as you head toward the transom?

[phatdaddy]

mine was mushy on the fuel cell cover and around the captain chairs where they did a lousy job installing and sealing.

for about $30 dollars worth of resin and caulk and another hour labor these boats would have been bullet-proof from the factory

[SkunkBoat]

no, it will be near screw holes from seats. And screws in fuel hatch

Remove a screw, might give you a clue.

Same goes for transom...remove a transducer screw...

[Para]

Wow! That Carbon Core stuff is like magic!...pourable wood !

[bgreene]

Para - for what it's worth to you.......if you're looking at a boat here's my speech:

Take your time, don't rush.... look over the transom very carefully checking for a bunch of things, including
1 - Cracks, and cracks that may have been covered up with gel, paint or other.
2. Swollen transom with the bolts sunk into the transom on either side means it's swollen from water intrusion and soft.
3. Transom bows out or isn't straight.
4. Any work done, any plates, anything that looks like cosmetic cover up.

Soft means water instrusion, and if you find it in one location, likely its spread and worse.

This topic gets me fired up - I've looked at many so called " rock solid " boat ads that turn out to have water intrusion, and " oops, the seller didn't notice" etc. These old V's were built with lots of wood and most have at least some water intrusion somewhere. Looked at several Seacraft's that were listed as rock solid......and were sponges.

New transom done correctly by professional costs around $ 5,000
Then if they find more water instrusion, bad stringers etc it gets ugly ....fast.
Being a bit preachy but just passing on info you may already know.
Best of success to you.

Oh.......and perform the transom test - with boat out of water, and outboard tilted up, press down heavily on the outboard skeg and watch the transom for ANY movement.
Then stand on the skeg and do the same thing - if the transom flexes - it's weak, no matter what anyone tells you - it's weak.

[SkunkBoat]

Originally Posted by bgreene

3. Transom bows out or isn't straight.

Be aware....
The V20 transom is not flat across. It is designed with a flat section where the motor mounts that is set back from the corners and raked rearward from the keel. The wood in the transom was three pieces, not one flat piece all the way across.

[bgreene]

Yes and can still be warped even though 3 sections.
Trust through clarification as Reagan said.

[THEFERMANATOR]

You can also use a rubber mallet to check integrity. You you give it a light smack and listen to the sound, wether the hammer bounces back, and how much the panel moves. Remember, you're testing, not demo ing it, so just a light smack. You'll get a feel for it after a few minutes and can tell when you hit a sud spot or a bad spot by how the hammer feels when it hits. But ONLY use a light black rubber mallet.

[reelapeelin]

Walking around on it will tell the tale...if you're looking at a cuddy with a full windshield, get up on the bow deck ahead of the windshield and walk around there as well including around the bow rail mounts My transom test is tilt the motor up and apply your weight across the lower unit...no noise means its OK...snap crackle pop and the owner's freaking out, walk away.

It's not just these boats...I considered a 19' Grady recently...30 year old boat...soft as it could be and with a fuel tank issue...a lot depends on how the boat spent those 30 years...tied up at a dock or covered on a trailer

Take your time selecting and don't fall in love with a particular boat...until AFTER you buy it...